Eradicating ecocide could create conditions for business to flourish, but company leaders often offer knee-jerk response to environment campaigners

Thursday, 21, February 2013 – Guardian Sustainable Business – The Eradicating Ecocide campaign calls for ecocide – the extensive destruction of ecosystems – to be recognised in international law as the fifth crime against Peace. Lawyer Polly Higgins’ compelling argument is that the abolition of ecocide requires business leadership as surely as the campaign for the abolition of slavery did.

One of the paradoxes for environmental campaigners in developed nations is that we are often fighting for the rights of others – for other species, people in other nations, people not yet born. Like the abolitionists we may not personally benefit from our victories and indeed may be disadvantaged in the short-term. This produces a complex moral and psychological field to work in, one that frequently produces unintended consequences like my conversation with the business leaders. Angry denial, studied indifference and projection of blame are just a few of the responses that leave campaigners shell-shocked and puzzled as they struggle to engage both the public and the powerful in the struggle for a truly sustainable future…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/eradicating-ecocide-business-leaders-challenge

▶ SHOULD COMPANIES COMPENSATE SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION FROM WHICH THEY PROFIT? http://sco.lt/5x2tqz